Marriage is a loaded, contested word these days. Everyone seems to have a different idea on what it is, and what it looks like. The Church teaches that three essential factors of marriage are that it be faithful, fruitful, and forever. We may feel at a loss as to how to make that point in our society today; we’ve called the legislators, we are still praying, but we really feel that one of the best things to do as Catholics is to live our own marriages well. To do that, we need to be martyrs, of a sort.

Pentecost, May 19, is a solemnity — the highest ranking liturgical feast — and it celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. It serves as the grand and glorious conclusion to the 50-day Easter Season — seven continuous weeks that celebrate the greatest mystery of the Christian faith, the resurrection. It brings the paschal mystery to completion.

Greatest of Christian feasts can’t be adequately observed in a single day

The sacrament of penance, or reconciliation, helps Catholics recognize “the truth about themselves: that they are beloved children of the Father, who is rich in mercy,” said Cardinal Manuel Monteiro de Castro.

The good news of the birth of Jesus and the salvation he brings is intended not only for the people of Israel, but for all people everywhere. And, the appearance of the star to the Magi is one of the first Gospel indicators of the universality of salvation.